Three Professors Win Top Teaching Award at Rutgers-Camden

For Immediate Release

CAMDEN --  Rutgers University—Camden has named three professors as recipients of its top teaching honor.

Ana Laguna, Maureen Morrin, and Naomi Marmorstein are the recipients of the 2008 Rutgers—Camden Provost’s Award for Teaching Excellence.  Established in 1993, the annual award honors Rutgers—Camden professors who advance their students’ knowledge through innovative and effective teaching.

Laguna is an assistant professor of Spanish at Rutgers—Camden.  In recommending her for the award, an individual wrote that there “is simply no aspect of teaching that Dr. Laguna, in her five years at Rutgers—Camden, has not touched or improved.”  Her research examines Spanish history.

Laguna received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Castilla-La Mancha in Spain.  She then attended Purdue University, where she earned her master’s degree in Spanish and Spanish-American literature in 1998 and her doctoral degree in comparative literature in 2002.  She resides in Cherry Hill.

Morrin is an associate professor of marketing at the Rutgers School of Business—Camden, where she frequently teaches undergraduate and MBA courses in consumer behavior, customer analytics, and database marketing.  In a letter of recommendation for the award, a student wrote that Morrin “comes to class thoroughly prepared, engages the class in carefully planned exercises, uses course materials that relate to the real world, and genuinely cares that students really learn.”

Morrin received her bachelor’s degree in international economics from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1982; her MBA from the American Graduate School of International Management in 1985; and her doctoral degree in marketing from New York University in 1994.  She recently completed a multi-year NASD Foundation grant that supported her research into how women select 401(k) funds.  She resides in Bala Cynwyd, Pa.  

Marmorstein is an associate professor of psychology at Rutgers—Camden, where she regularly teaches courses in abnormal psychology, developmental psychopathology, and psychotherapy theory.  A student characterized Marmorstein as “truly a dedicated professor who has an obvious love for psychology and does her best to pass on the desire to learn to her students” in nominating Marmorstein for the award.

Marmorstein received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Yale University in 1993.  She earned her doctoral degree in clinical science and psychopathology from the University of Minnesota—Twin Cities in 2001.  She has received numerous grants in support of her research, including a $649,503 award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health.  She resides in Philadelphia.

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